Tobam Acquires 813 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Tobam lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the quarter. Tobam’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $964,850,000 after buying an additional 10,060 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $520,569,000 after acquiring an additional 12,850 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $205,114,000 after acquiring an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 448,184 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $134,527,000 after purchasing an additional 6,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.4 %

WST stock opened at $330.53 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $265.00 and a twelve month high of $413.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a PE ratio of 49.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 19.82 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $332.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $314.53.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.